I have returned over and over to the article on White Supremacy that was included in the White Supremacy Teach-In materials last spring and then guided us in our revised programming at LREDA Fall Conference. My early readings were all about the critiques of the culture that many of us grew up in, that we breathe and swim in. Many of the cultural norms that were articulated in the article resonated with me the first time I read them, but perfectionism stood out.

I have been actively fighting my internalized perfectionism for a number of years, so it wasn’t hard to see its role in our culture of white supremacy. Those well articulated critiques of aspects of our culture have been so helpful to me, but I have finally begun taking more seriously the guidance of our LREDA Fall Conference summary speaker, religious educator and UUA Board Trustee, Christina Rivera. I have heard her say in a number of contexts, “look at the antidotes” in the article.

I have to admit, the first several times I read the article, I swear I didn’t even see the antidote sections. It’s a clear reflection of the embedded perfectionism and self-criticism I have internalized. I am now making a concerted effort to read and live the antidotes in my daily life and in our LREDA Board work.

Here are some antidotes we are working on: We are evaluating how decisions are made, who has the authority to make them, making some changes and then plan to make that information available to all; we are working to embrace disagreement on our board, understanding that avoidance of conflict played a key role in the misguided decisions that led to Fall Conference speakers on the board and committees. We will continue to communicate how we are working to dismantle white supremacy in the structures and culture of LREDA.

It is such an honor to serve on your LREDA Board and I can do it because I know I am part of a network, a web of so many religious educators serving on the LREDA Board and committees, in Chapter leadership, as Good Officers, on the UUA Board and as staff at the UUA, the CUC, and other organizations. We are in this together and will continue to learn how better to serve one another, our faith, and the larger world.

If we have any hope of transforming the world and changing ourselves,we must be bold enough to step into our discomfort,brave enough to be clumsy there,loving enough to forgive ourselves and others.May we, as people of faith, be granted the strength to beso bold,so brave,and so loving.

In humility and fierce love,

Annie

Annie Scott is the Director of Religious Education for Children, Youth and Families at Jefferson Unitarian Church, in Golden Colorado. She serves LREDA as President from 2017-2020.

Delegate Status

We are so appreciative of all the religious educators, ministers and congregational board members who have supported the concept of delegate status for religious educators. In order to add an issue to the agenda, General Assembly requires 15 congregational boards to endorse and submit a proposed UUA Bylaw amendment. As of this writing, we’re aware of 37 congregations who voted to approve, and at least 29 confirmed that forms were submitted. You made that happen in about one month, over holidays!

We hope to see this item on the agenda at GA 2018 in Kansas City, and we hope all LREDA members will either be present for the discussion or will watch online. This is an important conversation about who should have a voice in the governance of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.

We have invited our sibling organizations of ministers, musicians, administrators, and membership professionals to join this conversation. We all have experience and wisdom that serves our association on a congregational level and can also serve our association in the larger context of the General Assembly.

Nominating Committee

LREDA Leadership on LREDA Committees

The beginning of each year is a busy time for the LREDA Nominations Committee. Not only are we focused on candidates for the three elected LREDA positions (2 board positions and one Nominations Committee position), we also recruit people to fill open slots on LREDA committees.

Serving a LREDA committee is a great experience and a step in learning more about the total LREDA leadership experience. Below is a list of the committees and a link to their page on the LREDA website. Check it out! If you are interested in any of these committees, please let the Nominating Committee know. We especially encourage people of color to be in touch. AND if you know someone who you believe would serve one or more of these committees well, let us know that as well. You are the eyes and ears of developing leadership and we could use your insights.

Please note: the deadline for Board positions has been extended to February 12. The deadline for committee positions is February 28. Email any ideas and questions to the LREDA Nominating committee: nominating@lreda.org

Endowment Committee All aspects of the LREDA Endowment which serves as a strong resource for the continued work of LREDA and professional religious educators. Learn more athttp://www.lreda.org/endowment

Religious Education Credentialing Mentor Committee Oversees training and implementation of the mentor program which is a strong component of the UUA’s Religious Education Credentialing Program. To learn more, visit http://www.lreda.org/mentoring.

Other Opportunities:There are also two working groups who help make large LREDA sponsored events happen. The LREDA At-large Board Representative in charge of Continental Events works with these two groups. Please let us know if you are interested or you know someone:

We are pleased to welcome two new members to the LREDA Endowment Committee--Susan Freudenthal, Director of Family Ministries for the UU Church of Las Cruces, NM and Rev. Andrew Mertz, of Hayward, CA. The LREDA Endowment Committee (LEC) works closely with Pete Fontneau, Treasurer, and Laurel Amabile, Director of Development, to plan for the continued growth of our Endowment Fund.

Thanks to the generosity of over 300 religious educators and congregation supporters during our recent Endowment Campaign, our Endowment Fund has grown to over $585,000! LREDA is already reaping the benefits from the returns in more funding for our annual budget, programs, and projects.

We are beginning to set new goals and plan for growing the Endowment Fund by promoting active contributing by LREDA members and congregations, including gifts made in honor or memory of colleagues and from congregations through special collections and shared offering programs.

Your continued support of the Endowment Fund as well as LREDA's other special funds truly makes a difference for religious educators now and in the future. Thank you!

If you would like more information about the Wake Now Our Vision Legacy Giving or have ideas to share about contributing to the LREDA Endowment, please contact us at endowment@lreda.org.

John Cavallero, Chair, LREDA Endowment Committee

Laurel Amabile, Director of Development

News from the UUA

2018 Stewardship Sermon Award

Established in 1984, the Stewardship Sermon Award is granted annually in recognition of a sermon that best explores and promotes the financial support of our Unitarian Universalist faith. The $1,000 award is jointly sponsored by the UUA's Stewardship and Development, the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association (UUMA) and the Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA). The selection is made by a representative committee using a blind process with standardized criteria. Our thanks to LREDA representative Perry Montrose.

Eligibility (2018)

The sermonmust have been delivered before a Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregation between April 15, 2017 and April 15, 2018 (a Stewardship sermon in Children's Chapel could qualify for consideration). The sermon should explore the spiritual practice of generosity and promote financial support of Unitarian Universalism and should directly address money as it relates to affirming our Unitarian Universalist faith, vision and future. All Unitarian Universalist professional religious leaders, as well as those studying for professional leadership (in at least their second year), are eligible to be considered for this award (with the exception of paid employees of the UUA, UUMA, or LREDA). Sermons are judged through a blind process by a panel of UU professional, religious and lay leaders. The recipient will receive a $1,000 cash award and will see the sermon on the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), the UUMA and the LREDA websites.

Submission FormatEntries must be submitted as a MS Word Document to apf@uua.org no later than Monday April 16, 2018 in order to be considered.Sermons must be submitted as a Word Document in the following format:​

Cover Page: The cover page must include the sermon title, author's name, congregational affiliation, mailing address, telephone number, email address and where and when the sermon was delivered. Please omit any page headers and footers.

Sermon Pages: Only the sermon title should be included at the top of the first page of the sermon.

Identifying information must be modified or removed. Please substitute congregation names with "this congregation" or "our congregation" or some other un-identifying text. Please do the same for state, region, town or geographical landmark names. Where possible, substitute people's names with their roles in the congregation. For instance, instead of "Jane Doe called me," write "the Chair of the Canvass Committee called me." Entries which have not been modified to remove these indicators will be returned for revision (all entries must be submitted in proper format by April 16th, 2018).